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Preserving the Remarkable History of the Khojas: A Community Undertaking
We are a not-for-profit collaboration, dedicated to documenting the lived experiences and recollections of our people, including stories passed down from parents and other ancestors. Our aim is to harness the Internet's potential to safeguard the 700-year diasporic and mercantile journey of the Khojas, originating from the north-western Indian subcontinent and spanning across the world, thereby preventing the loss of these irretrievable narratives as our elders pass on.
The Khojas stand out as a distinct socio-cultural community, distinguished by an unbroken tradition of naming that reinforces their syncretic identity from the subcontinent. They have exhibited unwavering determination in safeguarding a culturally diverse heritage, which includes a treasure trove of poetry and songs (ginans/geets, kâfi, ghazals), literature (manuscipts), and dance(dandiyas/raas), which they have proudly nurtured for generations. They have a rich history of preserving their spoken languages, Kutchi and Gujarati. Their heritage also includes a unique written script known as Khojki and for centuries, the Khojas families fervently safeguarded the handwritten manuscripts, containing their genealogical heritage.
Dating back from the 14th century, the Khojas have always cultivated a pacifist path of mercantilism and migration, mostly for entrepreneurial reasons but often due to social upheavals. Initially farmers and petty traders in Multan and Sindh, they accompanied their Hindu rulers into Kutch when they were expelled by Muslim invaders and later, into Kathiawar in the late 1600s, where they became merchants, shopkeepers and traders. As Gujarat grew into a major exporter of cotton and the British expanded their hold, many Khojas ventured out as wholesale & retail traders of commodities and as regional merchants, through extended mercantile chains, across the breadth of the Indian Ocean. Later others evolved into entrepreneurs venturing into manufacturer and as industrialists, both within India and overseas. This laid the foundation for their current diaspora, where they thrive globally as successful businesspeople and professionals.
Within this long history lie hundreds of personal stories filled with courage, sacrifice, and strong family values, all interwoven with a fine tradition of public service or "sewa." These family biographies and generational histories collectively form The Khoja Story- a peoples history of the Khoja as an Indic community or 'jat'. This treasure trove not only holds immense value for our future generations but also for society, as it is part of the greater history of the Indian Ocean trading world, spanning thousands of years and multiple continents.
Sadly, repeated migrations have caused many families to lose their traditional methods of passing down ancestral information, resulting in 'broken' collective memories. As our elders pass away, they take with them crucial links to our complex identity, leaving important questions unanswered for our children and friends: Who are we? How did we get here? The Khojas often humorously claim that business is in their blood, but how did this powerful legacy come to be? These questions demand answers, and the urgency to preserve irretrievable family stories and the collective Khoja history grows stronger as time passes.
Inspired by the words of Dutch historian Gijsbert G. Oonk, who highlighted the need to write the history of East African Indians, as “a people without a history”, our volunteers have embarked on this mission since 2016. Through the Khoja Oral Family History Documentation Project and the Khojawiki.org web portal, we are committed to permanently recording and memorializing the rich history of our Khoja ancestors. By doing so, we hope to continue to celebrate a vibrant heritage and ensure that our unique journey is remembered and is a source of pride for generations to come.
To those who mourn the passing of their ancestors, the poet Rumi says “No one is truly dead until forgotten.”
Iqbal I. Dewji, Founder/Editor
Some statistics
It is Wednesday, November 6, 2024 and KhojaWiki.org currently has over 400 personal histories and 72,121 names on our community tree.
Featured Content
Some interesting stories created by our contributors and carefully picked by our editors.
Volunteers and Supporters
We Wish to Honour Some of Our Dedicated Volunteers & Supporters Every Week. You make Khoja Wiki possible!
Write Your Story–Make Our History
Check your family member name in our 60,000 plus database. Register as a User and add your family histories!
Some Remarkable Women in our HistoryKhoja migratory history has produced some strong women. Their life stories have been translated into Gujarati so you can share with your elders-ગુજરાતીમાં અનુવાદિત - તેથી તમે વડીલો સાથે શેર કરોFeatured content
Featured Prominent PersonalitySir Currimbhoy Ibrahim, 1st Baronet
Among those who contributed to India's present position as a formidable industrial power were the business titans of the nineteenth century, who despite the constraints of British colonial rule, managed to create huge commercial and industrial conglomerates that outdid those of their masters.
These days, we are familiar with the Tatas and Birlas but it was the early textile magnets with their 136 mills between 1856 and 1900, who gave India its export economy. There were at least seven Khoja mill owners among them, of whom the most successful entrepreneur and renowned philanthropist was Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim, who went on to be made the first and only Khoja Baron (Lord) from India, (the only other being Lord Amir Bhatia of Hampton) with a grant of lands recognized by the British Crown and a hereditary title that has remained in his family since..
From Our HistoryEarliest Indian Historical Reference To Khojas
1440's AD
Famous 15thc Indian poet/philosopher/historian Vidyapati refers to Khojas in one of his poems.
Check it out here.VIDYAPATI - Indian PoetFrom Our HistoryEarliest Portuguese Historical Reference To Khoja Merchants
Check it out here!!! Khoja Shams-ud-din Gillani1543 AD
Featured EssayThe Quedagh Merchant
17th Century ships built by Indians in Surat"
A wealthy Khoja merchant from Surat whose ship, the "Quedagh Merchant" was captured by Captain William Kidd, the notorious British pirate and for which Capt. Kidd was hanged 300 years ago!
Personal Histories
Index of over 350 personal histories.Each is unique and most contain fascinating stories of migration and settlement of the Khojas.
Azim Muhammed Hashim Premji "India's IT Czar"
Mohamedali Rahemtulla "Mbale's renaissance man"
Mohamed Hamir "Iringa JK builder"
Badrudin Karmali Sayany "Barrister Sayani"
Hasham Jamal Pradhan "Bwana Mzuri-Kisumu Pioneer"
ABDUL AZIZ "Sri Lanka's conscience"
Mohamed-Jaffer Habib Dewji Bhayani "20th c. Khoja entreprenuer & migrant"
Mehdi Bawa "his story, told his way."
Mehboob Madhavjee Jessani "...and that, too, is life."
FakirMohamed Hussein Karim Gaidher "Calgary's Bapa"
Mohamed H. Ahamed Sumar "The Sumars of Lindi"
Firoze Madatally Manji "Author-Activist"
Hassanali Nanji Giga "Zanzibar horses importer"
Dhanji Jadavji Bhatia "East African Entrepreneur"
Husseinali Nurmohamed Jiwa "Deputy Mayor, Masaka, Uganda"
Gulamali JIna Madhavji "Tanga Dukawalla"
Rahimtullah Muhammad Sayani "Prominent Bombay Citizen"
Amir Ali Fancy "Mwanza's Mr. 'Fancy'"
Sultanali Hasham Lalji Noorani "Tales from the Congo'"
Maherali Gokal Versi "Tanganyika Dukawalla'"
Moledina Visram "Mpwapwa Merchant'"
Mohamed Nanji Nathani "Tanga's Mr.Mamand'"
Volunteers and Supporters
We Wish to Honor Some of Our Dedicated Volunteers & Supporters Every Week.
- Aly Sunderji of Vancouver for his research into many hundreds of histories. Aly is a intrepid Community Historian;
- Karim Jivraj of London for research into UK colonial archives and Family history;
- Riyaz Adat of Sharon for helping with or always last-minute reviews & editing.
- Naren Valabh Kanji Varambhia of London, UK for his generous help with Gujarati;
- Dr. Hasnain Walji of MARC for his insights, knowledge of Khoja History and unbounded encouragement;
- Sultan Somjee of Vancouver for his timely encouragement and great contribution to the understanding of OUR culture;
- Mohammed Rahimtoola of Karachi for his standing offers of support;
- Raza Kara of Toronto for his contributions with East African Cricket Fraternity;
- Zahir Dhalla of Toronto (Community Historian and Author) for writing and sharing biographies of our seniors and conducting seminars on Writing Biographies;
- Shamshtabrez Dhirani of Edmonton for his help in sharing our message with his readers;
- Nazir Hirji of Calgary for his support with East African Cricket Fraternity.
- Mohamed Mullani of Toronto with his kind donation;
- Zeenat Shariff of Toronto for her effort as a Coordinator;
- Nizar Ramani of Bhuj, Kutch;
- Dr. Parvez Nathani of Porbandar,Kathiawar;
- Nizar Hemnani of Jivapur,Kathiawar;
- Late Anver Chatoor, formerly of Colombo;
- Nizar Bogha of Arusha;
- Jamil Ashaqali Nasser of Doha
- Zul Jiwani of Toronto;
- Mansurali Virani of Jamnagar;
- Shirin Walji of Edmonton;
Our Volunteers Need Your EncouragementWrite Your Story – Make Our History
Check Your Family Member HerePlease check various spelling etc. to avoid duplication.
Become a member
To prevent abuse, we request that you contact us if you wish to be registered as a user and to be able to add information about your family.
Contribute
Once you receive your username and password and have logged in, please follow this instruction to add content.
Ask for help
Alternatively, just fill this simple Google form and we'll be happy to enter the information about your family to Khojawiki for you!
Some Remarkable Women
Click on the photos to read the life stories of these remarkable women!ગુજરાતીમાં અનુવાદિત - તેથી તમે વડીલો સાથે શેર કરો
Now translated into Gujarati so you can share with your elders!
Zera Hassam Mohamed Dhanji"a modern businesswoman"
Sakarkhanu Hassanali Bandali "a formidable force"
Amina Sadruddin Virani "against the odds"
Gulsaker Dewji "a memorial to a fighter"
Nurbanu Gulamhussein Moledina "Ontario centenarian"
Razia Nathani Suleman "The Gujarat Project"
Yasmin Ratansi "Canadian Trailblazer"
Dolatkhanu Alibhai Gulamhusein Jiwani "a family matriarch"
Naaz Bandali "Dar's lonely female cricket fan"
Fatmabai Kassamali Kanji Bhatia "a Strong Mother"
Kulsumbai Abdulla Hasham "a desi Healer "
Zubeida Sultan Chinoy "A titan among the Titans"
Daulatkhanu Hassanali Suleman Bhanji "her life, her way"
Noor Nagji "true to my word"
Remti Hassanali Nasser Welji "Pioneering Teacher"
In the News
Khojas and the English 1700's-1900's 'Pirates,City-Building and the Railways'Mr. Iqbal I. Dewji was invited to make a Zoom presentation on the above subject on Sunday, January 30, 2022.
We are pleased to provide a video of his talk:
'TUG OF WAR'(Khojawiki-Associate Producers) wins more awards.FESPACO - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - "the Oumarou Ganda award for best first or second feature film."
MASHARIKI AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL, Kigali, Rwanda - “For the great achievement in a film adaptation of a historical novel that features little-known African heroes. For the particular artistic level through the mastery of all the components of cinematographic language: image, music, costumes, sets and acting.”
VUTA N’KUVUTE ZANZIBAR PREMIERE, A HOMECOMING - "The ripples of silence, laughter and joy throughout the night were an outcome of the efforts of a community that collectively contributed to giving back a piece of their own literature, forgotten history; in the hopes of giving new generations a glimpse into their past"
Political & social dignitaries, including Vice President, Zanzibar with the cast & crew on stage in front of 1200 people at the screening in December 2021KHOJAWIKI SECURES A TREASURE – TROVE OF GERMAN COLONIAL RECORDS OF KHOJAS IN TANZANIA.During a recent visit to the German National Archives in Koblenz, we discovered some recently digitized records from Tanzania - a couple of very detailed German Colonial Handbooks dated 1903-1904-and 1908.
From those, our volunteers have painstakingly extracted all recorded Khoja family names & details and added them on to the Khojawiki website database.
This is a valuable find - thousands of Khojas from Tanzania can now find confirmation of their family oral history...of their great-grandparents and trace them to various towns and villages of their first settlement, including the Dukas and other businesses they established. We have names and business details from centers like Morogoro, Kilosa, Bagamoyo, Dar es Salaam, Pangani, etc. and also from small “bush” settlements like Magalla, etc.
All the towns and names are listed underneath and the detailed information for each ancestor is up-loaded on the Khojawiki database. Please check your family name on the general search engine above to see if your ancestor has been recorded.
Once again, we at Khojawiki are very proud of our volunteers who are trying to preserve our family heritage so our grandchildren can know their real past.
Search here, and then insert name in the main search engine in the left column
Bagamoyo Khoja Merchants 1903
Dar es Salaam Indian Merchants 1903
Dar es Salaam Indian Merchants 1904
German Colonial Handbook 1908 pg1
Indian Trader
Indian Traders 1903
Indian Traders Arusha 1908
Indian Traders Bukoba 1908
Indian Traders Dar es Salaam 1908
Indian Traders Iringa 1908
Indian Traders KIlwa, Kilosa 1908
Indian Traders Lindi 1903
Indian Traders Lindi 1908
Indian Traders Lushoto 1903
Indian Traders Mafia 1908
Indian Traders Mahenge 1903
Indian Traders Morogoro 1908
Indian Traders Mpwapwa 1908
Indian Traders Ngerengere 1908
Indian Traders Pangani 1903
Indian Traders Pangani 1908
Indian Traders Saadani 1903
Indian Traders Sadani 1908
Indian Traders Shirati1908
Indian Traders Tabora and Tanga 1903
Indian Traders Tanga and Tabora1908
Indian Traders Tanga1908
Indian traders In Bagamoyo1904
Kilosa Indian Traders 1903
Mukhi Kamadia Dar
Mukhi-Kamadia plaque - Tanga 1905-1932
Mukhi-Kamadia plaque - Tanga 1933-1968
Khojawiki At The Second Khoja Studies Conference, Mumbai University 2019Mr. Iqbal I. Dewji, Director of the Khoja Oral Family History Documentation Project was invited to speak to a conference at Mumbai University that included, amongst many other scholars, the Directors of the two very prestigious academic institutions engaged in Khoja Studies-The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) of the University of Paris and the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.
Mr. Dewji's presentation was on the subject of "Crowd-sourcing And Wiki Initiatives In History Preservation."
We are pleased to provide a video of his talk:
KHOJAWIKI ADDRESSPlease send your written materials at the following address:
KHOJAWIKI, c/o 6 Garamond Court, Suite 254, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada, M3C 1Z5
email: contact@khojawiki.org
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